I got a call from my step-son this evening. He bought a 2007 335i with 90K for $8000.

Any issues with this car? Any problems with it other than the recalled fuel pump??

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

Anyone know anything about these??

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

I work on alot more BMW's than I do MB's. I would suggest servicing the transmission, changing the coolant and changing the brake fluid if you can't find records showing this work has been done. Also, go ahead and replace the serpentine belt idler pulley and tensioner pulley. It is imperative to get the transmission serviced (fluid/filter change).

If there is a bunch of sludge build up on the bottom of the oil fill cap change the oil/filter to Mobile 1 (or any high quality synthetic). Run it about 5k miles and do it again. The sludge will clean up.

Typical places for oil leak is the bolt up of the oil filter housing to the block. Crankcase vent system is typically only good for about 100k miles.

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Jim

It was a formerly leased vehicle, and came with ALL service records. I'll have him check to see of the transmission was serviced.

My main fear is this...he traded a perfectly good Chevy truck with about 50K miles in on it. The car has been "Murdered out", meaning it's black on black on black with very dark tint. With the look of the car, and the fact that he got it in SoCal, I'm worried about previous lease holders killing it on the highway.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

IIRC that application may be one of those "lifetime" fill transmissions so it probably has never been serviced. The tranny fluid will look like used motor oil. You will need to look for the tag on the side of the transmission to see if it is a ZF or GM unit. Consider yourself lucky if it is the GM tranny because you can use ATF type IV fluid. The ZF requires higher dollar fluid in addition to having the filter built into the pan.

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Jim

Holy depreciation, Batman!

Don't be worried.

Southern California cars are almost certainly, especially in the high-end Geman luxury area, like this 3 series, guaranteed to be in mint condition.

Why?

Because Southern California is ground zero for car culture, the drivers and owners love these cars, and almost always maintain them, love, cherish, and pamper them to a fault.

This is seen in the ubiquitous tuner and accessory, aftermarket wheel, body and paint, and washing and detailing shops everywhere in Southern California. Most of the cars there are quite new, and very clean and no shortage of streetable classics, even the 3.0 csi BMW coupe and the old MB 300D and exotics like Rolls Royces, Bbentleys, Jaguars. Mseratis, Lamboghinis, they are really common. and often as not, the latest models too!!! It's not ONLY a case of one-upsmanship between these rich people, these cars are even for rent, because you NEED to pull up in one of them, if for instance you are trying to pitch a script to a Hollywood studio- you'd get nowhere if you showed up in some beat up 1974 Dodge Dart, for instance. It's true; friends of mine down there who used to circulate / work in that crowd assure me it's really truesom and I have seen those exotic car rental lots in Studio City and Beverly Hills... you ARE judged by the car you drive.

Not only that, the weather there is sunny and mild all year long, so no rust and rot issues to worry about.
Furthermore, there are so MANY great cars, a shopper has an abundance of examples to pick from with a huge choice of color, options, mileages and condition with regard to selection. And the ove abundance drives prices down too!

For these reasons, it cars that lived their early lives in Southern California that were near new were what I selected both times as certified pre-owned cars (both vehicles owners boasted Beverly Hills owners and I have the documewntation to prove it, the 1991 560SEC was delivered new to Calstar Motors MB in Glendale on 12/23/1990 and the 2011 e350 Sport new to Downtown LA Motors MB on 11/30/10) and both were well kept and pampered by their So Cal keepers until I got them very lightly used at MB dealers who cherry picked them -, though at about $40k-$50k apiece for them, their MB dealer asking prices for each were not cheap at the MB dealer so I had to try and really hammer the price down a bit when I bought them. And the estended warranties were costly, another 42k or so but brought peace of mind.


And both cars were keepers - wonderful!
~~~~~

Here is the story on dark and limo-tinted windows in LA. Not only just all the rock and movie stars, and Hollywood producers and titans of Industry that don't want to be recognized by other drivers, (and not to mention tha the deep tint really hides the interiors from the sun all year and oftn if gets real hot for weeks at a time there) but all the "copycat" drivers that hope to be mistaken for stars too by tinting THEIR cars real dark too.

So many such cars, even the 3 series like this one, have illegal (limo tint illegal on front windows in CA.) that they CHP would be utterly overwhelmed in Southern Caifornia if they tried to write people for tint violations or no front plate (in California you need two plates on the car by law).

Northern California is a totally different scene. The CHP writes to the pont of harrasswment, tint violations (the oficers actualooly carry light meters to measure the tint darikness and hit up motorist with violations for no front plate, and evething else they can think of - it's revenue generation and harrassment, and would write you for the tone of your horn being wrong, or the angle your windshield wipers were parked, the placement of your year sticker on your rear plate - i exaggerate here though not by vey muchbut the difference by Northern and Southern California CHP is amazing in this area, like two different countries...

So you and your son can relax. I believe the car must have been someone's cherished baby if it was from southern California. He snagged a good one!!!

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1991 560 SEC AMG, 199k <---- 300 hp 10:1 ECE euro HV ...

1995 E 420, 170k "The Red Plum" (sold)

2015 BMW 535i xdrive awd Stage 1 DINAN, 6k, <----364 hp

1967 Mercury Cougar, 49k

2013 Jaguar XF, 20k <----340 hp Supercharged, All Wheel Drive (sold)

HPFP, oil cooler, oil cooler lines, which lead to overheating. Various electrical bits. My brother has a 335i and that thing is a rocket.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

^^ On that note I forgot to mention that $8k is ridiculously low. I have to imagine that meant $8k on top of the trade in? A 2007 90k 335i should be going for around $16k at the lowest. Factor in geological location for +/- $2000 at the most.

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TC
Current stable:
- 2004 Mazda RALLYWANKEL
- 2007 Saturn sky redline
- 2004 Explorer...under surgery.

Past: 135i, GTI, 300E, 300SD, 300SD, Stealth

Yeah...he had to finance $8000 to get it. Sorry if it looked misleading.

I'm concerned about the possibility of it being a bit ragged out, though he says it's in decent shape. He and his wife recently bought a house, and he's adding this car payment to his budget. He isn't making bad money, but he's not making enough for me to feel comfortable that this was a wise purchase. Luckily his wife makes decent money as a dog groomer. Having one kid and one on the way, I'm hoping he didn't shoot himself in the foot.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

I'd never buy a modified German car but that's a personal thing.

That is one heck of a motor but they do cook oil with the heat of the turbo's, so I'd be running Mobil 1 0w40 and changing it every 5k. A lot of them get a bit sludgy on 15k mile changes.

Speaking of murdered out black cars:
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?zip=06460&endYear=2009&modelCode1=S600&showcaseOwnerId=50161580&startYear=1981&makeCode1=MB&searchRadius=0&listingId=311654201&Log=0

I want that car so ****en bad.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Here's his BMW. I think it looks pretty sharp.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

Darth Vadermobile.. nice.

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1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi

Thanks, Jim.

His was first delivered as new to Center BMW in LA, and he bought it used at BMW of Riverside.

He and I have talked about the car, and the monthly cost he added to the household budget. He drives less than 30 miles a day, mainly to and from work, and traffic isn't as bad where he lives, which is near Lake Mathews, just SE of Corona...so he shouldn't be idling too much. Gas usage will be a little bit less than what he used in his truck, but a savings is a savings.

Having one bambino with one on the way, at least when I was in that position, meant that car payments needed to be done away with, the super nice cars were a thing of the past or future, and cutting costs was the number one priority. Apparently that is a discipline that is lost on today's youth...even in this type of economy.

Since I now have confidence in the car, I'm hoping that his job of 5 years is still there to pay for his family. Since he works in manufacturing QC, and is already topped out hourly without obtaining further certification, my concern is that the company will cut his job to cut costs, which happens all the time.

Thanks for easing some of my fears and worries.

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles